Mumbai terror suspect's lawyers seek e-mails from convicted associate

Chicago man charged with helping engineer plot

E-mails penned by a key planner of the deadly 2008 terror attack in Mumbai are being sought by attorneys for a Chicago man who goes on trial in May on charges he helped engineer the plot.

Attorneys for Tahawwur Hussain Rana asked a federal judge Monday for access to e-mails written by David Coleman Headley, who pleaded guilty last year to plotting the Mumbai attack and one never carried out on a Danish newspaper targeted for printing controversial cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad.

Headley is expected to testify against Rana.

A cache of Headley's e-mails has already been turned over to the defense by the government as both sides prepare for the May 16 trial at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse. But there are more, and Rana's attorneys believe they could provide insight into how Headley operated. Attorneys also believe some of the communications between the men were more innocent than the government contends.

Prosecutors called the request a "fishing expedition," noting that the defense doesn't know what the e-mails contain and are speculating that the information could be of use.

But Rana's attorney Patrick Blegen challenged that, saying the e-mails could provide context to communications between Headley and Rana. For example, Headley had a pattern of withholding information from associates and manipulating them, he said.

Charles Swift, another Rana attorney, noted that Headley had several girlfriends and multiple wives — and said suspicious language between Headley and Rana could refer to that.